Art and The Study of Materials at the Getty Research Institute

The Getty Research Institute (GRI) is an international center dedicated to providing resources, expertise, and a collaborative environment for art-historical research and publication. An important undertaking by the GRI is its Scholars’ program. Headed by Dr. A. Alexa Sekyra, the GRI sponsors 38 outstanding individuals every year who comes to the Institute to research subjects chosen by the Center over a six-month period. The program, started in 1985, has become a prestigious and sought after opportunity by hundreds of scholars, artists and cultural figures from around the world. In the most recent year, approximately 548 applicants competed for one of 38 placements. The work undertaken by these scholars and the cross-fertilization and exchange of ideas that are produced in this environment has had a multiplying effect on the field of art history and research throughout the world. The scholar’s work sheds light on new fields of understanding art and it adds to continued discovery and meaning that art brings to the thread of humanity.